I was driving home the other day, heading East just about the time the sun was going down behind me.
Rolling hills, music playing, little traffic.
Nice and relaxing.
Until the setting sun just about blinded me in the rearview mirror.
Blinking from seeing spots, I flipped the mirror up and tried to get back to my relaxing drive home.
Not so fast. God had something to say.
As I glanced back up to the rearview mirror, I noticed the strange pattern of shadows it was creating from the reflection of the sun. I had to squint to see any kind of detail. All the rolling hills behind me were now cast in various shades of shadow.
I couldn't clearly make out much of anything, and the beauty I was beholding a few minutes before had now turned to ominous shifting patterns of grey.
In true form, I took notice and began to ponder how with one flip of a switch everything took on such a drastically different appearance. I use this function at night all the time, but rarely during the day.
In true form, God proceeded to do what He regularly does with me... speaking through life, creation and observation.
What I heard was this:
Now you see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.
Hold up. I recognized this from my younger years memorizing the King James Version of I Cor. 13:12:
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."
Okay Lord, but what are you really trying to tell me.
His response:
Your heart may be troubled about many things, but be patient, you can't see everything clearly yet.
I had questions. Of course I had questions.
But Lord, it's hard to be patient when I still don't have the answers I need. I need clarity!
Now you see through a glass darkly. You are my daughter. Trust me, I've got you.
But Lord, I'd rather understand right now. How do I find peace in this situation without understanding?
Right now you can only see a small part of the picture. I am bigger than that. Find peace in ME, not in the understanding.
Okay. (sigh) It's just hard to see beauty through the distortion, purpose in the pain, solid ground in shifting shadows.
Your story is not yet complete. I am doing a good work in you.
Work with me.
Do not be afraid, I am with you. I AM your solid ground.
He had more to say, but you get the idea.
When I got home, I looked up that verse in my chosen translation these days.
This is how the NLT puts I Cor. 13:12:
"Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely."
Sometimes we don't see beauty looking in the rearview mirror-
in the car or in our lives.
We often look back and still desire clarity. Sometimes hindsight is clearer and sometimes it isn't. But we serve a God that knows us completely.
As we trust and obey Him, one day we will see- with perfect clarity- the why, the how, the purpose.
This month at our church, we're focusing on the Godly virtue and Fruit of the Spirit: Patience. So often it is in the process of "seeing through a glass darkly" where God does His good work. We practice patience, baby-stepping through circumstances and trusting Him to bear fruit in and through us.
Our lives can shift and change in an instant. We often stumble around trying to gain focus and grasp for stability.
Do not be afraid. Your story is not yet complete. The God of Angel Armies is behind you, goes before you and is by your side.
As Yoda tells an impatient Luke at the start of his training in Star Wars...
“Patience you must have, my young Padawan.”